Diamond Fields International Ltd., with its joint venture partner, have commenced diamond mining, using the vessel MV Kovambo, on Diamond Fields’ marine mining licence ML111 located near Luderitz, Namibia, under the terms of the joint venture agreement with Samicor Mining Services Pty. Ltd. Samicor is owned by LL Mining Corp., the mining arm of the Leviev Group of Companies, one of the world’s major diamond companies.
Over the past 10 days, Samicor’s chartered vessel, MV Kovambo, with the integrated third-generation seabed crawler and diamond processing plant has undergone and successfully completed commissioning and sea trials off the southwest coast of South Africa.
The MV Kovambo is a 104-metre, 3,300-ton vessel equipped with an integrated mining and processing system developed at a cost of approximately $30-million (U.S.), including the upgraded seabed crawler mining tool, launch, recovery and heave compensation equipment, a 50-ton-per-hour dense media processing plant, and a high-security final recovery X-ray sorting plant. The seabed crawler is a 160-ton remotely controlled tracked mining vehicle with very high production capacity.
The mining system installed on MV Kovambo has proved itself capable of consistently high production levels in the geological conditions found in the Marshal Fork marine deposits. The seabed crawler mining system was successfully deployed in Namibian Minerals Corporation’s (Namco) Luderitz Bay grant (ML 51) licence area, which is immediately adjacent to Diamond Fields’ Marshall Fork concession. It commenced mining operations in 1998 on Namco’s cross-concession boundary extensions to Diamond Fields’ Marshall Fork deposits, and in total produced approximately 400,000 carats of 95 per cent gem quality diamonds. Production from these extensions peaked at over 200,000 carats in 1999, including a single day when 16,271 carats were recovered.
“We are obviously very pleased to be resuming diamond production on schedule at Marshall Fork, now that the MV Kovambo is on-site and mining has commenced. The MV Kovambo’s demonstrated production capability should optimize development of our outstanding marine diamond resource. We look forward to a significant increase in the level of diamond production from ML 111, resulting in enhanced cash flow for the company,” says Gregg Sedun, president and chief executive officer of Diamond Fields. Pictures of the MV Kovambo and seabed crawler can be found at www.diamondfields.com.
In other news, the company reports that it has successfully renegotiated its debt of approximately $2.35-million (U.S.) owed to a company owned and controlled by the company’s controlling shareholder, Jean-Raymond Boulle. Pursuant to the terms of a convertible promissory note, the debt is repayable over a period of two years, with the principal on the note bearing interest at a rate of 6 per cent per year with a conversion right allowing the noteholder to convert all or a portion of the debt into common shares of the company, at any time while the debt remains outstanding, at a conversion price of 60 Canadian cents per share.
WARNING: The company relies upon litigation protection for “forward-looking” statements.
